"This is a book you will want to give to others, if you like it. And I guess it's one of those things like Marmite: you either love it or you strongly dislike it."

---

Product Description

Mackenzie Allen Philips' youngest daughter, Missy, has been abducted during a family vacation and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness. Four years later in the midst of his great sadness, Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him back to that shack for a weekend.

Against his better judgement he arrives at the shack on a wintry afternoon and walks back into his darkest nightmare. What he finds there will change Mack's world forever.

In a world where religion seems to grow increasingly irrelevant THE SHACK wrestles with the timeless question, 'Where is God in a world so filled with unspeakable pain?' The answers Mack gets will astound you and perhaps transform you as much as it did him. You'll want everyone you know to read this book! (20081125)

---

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #67 in Books
• Published on: 2008-07-17
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Review
'Brilliant! One of the most faith-enhancing books I have ever read' -- Bear Grylls 20080929 'Clearly the book is speaking loud and clear to a lot of people' -- The Independent 20080719 'Bunyanesque ... bold, imaginative, humane and funny.' -- Church Times 20081125 'This book has the potential to do for our generation what John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress did for his. It's that good!' -- Eugene Peterson 20081125 'This is the most heart-warming, inspirational story I have read in decades. If you only read one book in the next year...read THE SHACK' -- J.John 20080727 'By far the most captivating, deliciously written and theologically refreshing page turner of a novel I have ever read.' -- Gerald Coates, Pioneer 20080911 'Dangerous, dangerous way to do off-the-hook theology, I love it! It's not just what happens when a theologian becomes storyteller: this is what happens when a survivor who has experienced God decides to tell a story. This should be required reading in spirituality/theodicy classes everywhere. The Shack will quickly become a modern classic, and it will inspire imitators. But very few will match the competence of this work.' -- Siku 20081001 'THE SHACK is the most absorbing work of fiction I've read in many years. My wife and I laughed, cried and repented of our own lack of faith along the way. THE SHACK will leave you craving for the presence of God.' -- Michael W. Smith, Recording Artist 20081001 'This story reads like a prayer - like the best kind of prayer, filled with sweat and wonder and transparency and surprise. If you read one work of fiction this year, let this be it.' -- Mike Morrell, Zoecarnate.com 20081001 'Reading THE SHACK during a very difficult transition in my life, this story has blown the door wide open to my soul.' -- Wynonna Judd, Recording Artist 20081001

Review

'Brilliant! One of the most faith-enhancing books I have ever read'

(Bear Grylls 20081001)

'Clearly the book is speaking loud and clear to a lot of people'

(The Independent 20081001)

'Bunyanesque ... bold, imaginative, humane and funny.' (Church Times 20081001)

'This book has the potential to do for our generation what John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress did for his. It's that good!' (Eugene Peterson )

'This is the most heart-warming, inspirational story I have read in decades. If you only read one book in the next year....read THE SHACK' 

(J.John )

'By far the most captivating, deliciously written and theologically refreshing page turner of a novel I have ever read.'

(Gerald Coates, Pioneer )

'Dangerous, dangerous way to do off-the-hook theology, I love it! It's not just what happens when a theologian becomes storyteller: this is what happens when a survivor who has experienced God decides to tell a story. This should be required reading in spirituality/theodicy classes everywhere. The Shack will quickly become a modern classic, and it will inspire imitators. But very few will match the competence of this work.'

(Siku )

'THE SHACK is the most absorbing work of fiction I've read in many years. My wife and I laughed, cried and repented of our own lack of faith along the way. THE SHACK will leave you craving for the presence of God.' (Michael W. Smith, Recording Artist )

'This story reads like a prayer - like the best kind of prayer, filled with sweat and wonder and transparency and surprise. If you read one work of fiction this year, let this be it.' (Mike Morrell, Zoecarnate.com )

'Reading THE SHACK during a very difficult transition in my life, this story has blown the door wide open to my soul.' (Wynonna Judd, Recording Artist )

About the Author
William P. Young was born a Canadian and raised among a stone-age tribe by his missionary parents in the highlands of what was New Guinea. He suffered great loss as a child and young adult, and now enjoys the 'wastefulness of grace' with his family in the Pacific Northwest. (20081125)

---

Customer Reviews

FIction - not systematic Theolgy
It is a controversial book in a lot of ways, particularly in its depiction of God the Father appearing to Mack (the central character) as a black African-American woman.

"The Shack" is endorsed by leading evangelicals, including Eugene Peterson (The Message) and Michael W. Smith from the USA and the evangelist J. John in the UK. Equally, it has been derided as Heresy by others, including Mark Driscoll (Mars HILL Church, Seattle) who I count amongst my Christian heroes.

What did I think of it? Well, at the risk of offending somebody - here goes....

Without giving the whole story away, the plot follows Mack, whose daugther Missy is abducted and murdered. For the following few years Mack is enveloped by "The Great Sadness." One cold winters morning he receives a letter from God inviting him back to the shack where his daughter is believed to have been murdered, though her body was never found. At the shack, Mack meets God - Father Son and Holy Spirit, and over the course of a weekend, his encounter with them transforms his life.

First - lets get the difficult and dodgy stuff out of the way. I found the depiction of the Father (Papa) as a black woman more than difficult to deal with. The first person of the Trinity is depicted throughout Scripture as a Father. In "The Shack", God explains that He is Spirit, and that any depiction of Him in human terms is purely for our benefit. In Scripture, there are ocassions where God shows clear 'feminine' characteristics, such as Jesus using the image of a mother Hen protecting her chicks, and defining his heart for Jerusalem in that picture. In the Old Testament, God is depicted as a mother desiring to breast feed and nourish her children. In Creation we read that God created Male and Female in His image. There is no doubt that it is the 2 together - Male and Female, that give completion to the image. God is neither Male nor Female, but Spirit. However, we have no Biblical mandate to present Him as a woman, and I found the image in the book deeply troubling.

Mark Driscoll's comments are interesting, and can be found on You Tube. However, having rewatched his comments after reading the book, I dont believe that he had read the book when he critiqued it. For example, he accuses the author of the heresy of 'modalism' (look it up - come on - do some of the work yourself!) He uses 1 quote to support this claim. The charge is not verified by a reading of the book.

The 1 other area that did trouble me though, was the possible suggestion of Universalism (that all will be saved whatever.) This is by no means explicit, but could be implied in a number of places. Particularly in one section where Jesus tells Mack that his followers come from all walks, races, political parties and religions - Hindu, Muslim, Mormon, etc. I re-read the section, and it seems to be deliberately ambiguous. Certainly people will follow Jesus from every tribe, people, tongue and nation, but they will have to come to Him as the only Saviour. The section in question has Mack mention about people being Christians, and Jesus responds "I never mentioned becoming a Christian!" It is deliberately ambiguous. However, the rest of the book seems to clearly suggest that if people want to know God, they must enter into a relationship with Him through Christ.

However (and you cant ignore the dodgy stuff - that's why I mention it), I was deeply moved by the book. I have no doubt that at times I had fresh insights into my relationship with God.

A couple of examples. Young's potrayal of "The Great Sadness" is just brilliant. Anyone who has had a deep sad, life changing (Life-numbing) experience will identify with it. His depiction of this cloak of despair is true to life, and many will see themselves in it.

The way in which Young deals with "The Great Sadness" is also brilliant. In a "Judgement" scene, God invites Mack to be Judge and Jury on his own children. He is told to choose 2 to go to Heaven and the others to destine to hell. He pleads with God "Let me take their place - let me go instead of them!"
"Now you sound like Jesus - you have Judged well" comes the reply!

In the book, there is also a wonderful depiction of Jesus at the centre of all things, with Creation and the redeemed gathering to worship Him. The scene that follows moved me to tears as Young writes... "Everything that had breath sang out a song of love and unending thankfulness. Tonight the universe was as it was intended!"

The last thing that I will mention is that the book deals as well as any (fictional book) with the issues of forgiveness and anger and bitterness. There is much Biblical wisdom in the way Mack is led to address the brokeness and pain in his own heart and family.

"The Shack" was a good read, moving, inspiring, and ultimately I would recommend it with the proviso that you read it as a piece of fiction, and not a systematic theology.

Worth a look...
One day I was changing channels on the TV and came across an interview Young was giving to a christian network. I didn't know who he was or that he had written a book because I caught it half-way through, but I was moved by his personal story and could relate to his struggles. He then explained how he came to write this book in an attempt to answer his own questions about God - and that's how I first heard about it. The main question the book attempts to answer is 'why does God allow suffering, if he loves us why doesn't he intervene?' and I think it manages to make a very convincing argument. Faith and religion are very sensitive subjects, I'm sure some will find this book too Christian and others not Christian enough. I believe that although this is Mack's experience, the answers he finds are universal and can be incorporated into different belief systems. I must admit, I didn't feel that the writing style was that good, the prose doesn't flow very well for a novel and I don't think the character's psychologies were developed as well at they could have been. I asked myself if it would have been better had it been written as a book of religious non-fiction, but then it might not have attracted as many readers and that would have been a shame because the message of the book has the potential to resonate with, and help many people. It's unlike anything I've read before and definitely worth a look.

Really really bad
Although I love reading with a passion, I rarely write reviews, however I feel compelled to on this occasion! I was really looking forward to reading this book, having read the reviews. I found the first couple of chapters a little dull but thats not really unusual, so I perservered. I really wish I had not bothered! This book is without a doubt one of the worst, if not THE worst book I have ever read!
I am not a religious person, but I keep an open mind and would be more than happy to admit I was wrong if something ever happened to change my mind, so I dont want anybody to think that the reason I didnt like this book was because I dont believe in God. Its just not very well written, and given the subject matter - that a man spends the weekend with God, could have been so interesting but bored me beyond words! One of my main issues with the book is that it chooses a serious and painful matter (abduction and murder of a child) to spout americanised religious clap-trap - calling God "Papa" who turns out to be a stereotypical black Mama cooking soul food is just one example.
The author tries to provide answers to certain questions, but either he does not understand the answer himself or does not have the vocabulary to express it. I found this book boring and pointless. It is very interesting though that this book seems to be one of those you either love or hate - most of the reviews are either one or five stars with few in the middle. The blurb on the back says "you will recommend this book to all your friends", well I would implore my friends not to waste their money or their time on this awful, awful book!